What's Next in the classroom
A practical guide for teachers in grades 7, 8 and 9: how to use What's Next in lessons so students discover options, compare them honestly and take real steps.
What this website is for
What's Next explains every route Swiss students can take after compulsory school — apprenticeships, Gymnasium, FMS/ECG, commercial and IT schools, training workshops and bridge years — in one place, in five languages. Students can search occupations and schools, take a quiz about their interests and strengths, save favourites, compare options, keep notes and a to-do list, and write a journal about how their thinking changes.
Everything a student saves stays in their own free account, so the work they do in your lesson is still there next term.
What's Next is for everyone
The whole class does not need to do the same activity at the same time. Career choice is an individual process, and students move at different speeds — some are still discovering, others are already applying. Let each student use the part of the site that matches where they are right now.
A student with absolutely no idea what they want
Quiz → Explore → Wildcards
A student who already knows they want to become a Zeichner/in
Research → Compare similar careers → Make a list of companies to ask about a Schnupperlehre
A student who knows they want Gymnasium
Compare school pathways → Find schools in the area → Compare schools
A student who has tried three professions and is ready to apply
Applications → Interview preparation → To-do list
This matches Swiss guidance: Zurich's teacher materials note explicitly that students do not necessarily go through the stages of career choice in the same order, and that they may repeat stages.
Bring career exploration into your classroom: Ideas for each year
7th grade — Discover
The goal shouldn't be “choose your career”. It should be “discover what's out there and start learning about yourself”.
Lesson 1: the quiz as a starting point (45 minutes)
Students take the pathway or career quiz individually. Tell them explicitly that the result is a starting point, not an answer.
Then give them a challenge: save five occupations.
- Two that immediately appeal to them.
- Two they've never heard of before.
- One “wildcard” they wouldn't normally have considered.
Afterwards, students pair up and answer:
- What did the quiz get right about you?
- What did it get wrong?
- Which suggested career surprised you?
- What did you discover that you didn't know existed?
That last question matters most. At this age, What's Next should be widening students' horizons rather than narrowing them.
Lesson 2: Career Detective
Give each student a random apprenticeship from What's Next and 10 minutes to investigate it. They then have 60 seconds to explain the profession to a partner without saying its name, and the partner guesses it. That turns browsing the database into an activity rather than passive reading.
8th grade — Explore and compare
Students are moving from “What exists?” towards “What might actually fit me?” The official Swiss career-choice timetable places career preparation, BIZ visits, information events and Schnupperlehren across this period, although timing varies by canton.
Have every student build a shortlist of 3–5 possibilities and save them to their account.
Activity: My Top 3
Choose three occupations or school routes you're genuinely interested in and compare them:
- What would I actually do?
- What would I need to be good at?
- How would I learn?
- Where would I work?
- What appeals to me?
- What worries me?
- What do I still need to find out?
Don't pick a winner — classify each one:
“Probably not” is still a successful result. Career orientation is partly about eliminating possibilities intelligently.
Connect it to Schnupperlehren
The Swiss process explicitly includes experiencing occupations in practice before deciding. After researching an occupation here, students write three questions they want answered during their Schnupperlehre.
After the Schnupperlehre, they return to the saved occupation and reflect:
- Was the job what I expected?
- What did I enjoy?
- What didn't I enjoy?
- Could I imagine doing this every day?
- Do I keep it on my shortlist?
That creates a research → experience → reflection loop, and the journal page is where students record it.
9th grade — Decide and act
Shift the focus from discovery to action. Every student should be able to answer one question: what am I doing next? The to-do list in their account works as a personal dashboard.
For someone seeking an apprenticeship
- Finalise my shortlist
- Do Schnupperlehren
- Research companies
- Prepare CV
- Prepare application
- Apply
- Prepare for interviews
- Keep a Plan B
For someone considering further schooling
- Compare school pathways
- Check admission requirements
- Attend information events
- Check application deadlines
- Discuss my choice with teacher/parents
- Apply
- Create a Plan B
That mirrors the later stages of the official Swiss process: decision, apprenticeship search or school registration, and preparation for the next stage.
Tools you can point students to
Official sources
Interview Roulette
Spin a Las Vegas style wheel and practise 100 real apprenticeship interview questions, with tips for every type of question.
Spin the wheelTry it the way your students will
Take the quiz yourself before the lesson — it takes about ten minutes and makes the discussion afterwards much easier.